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Wednesday, January 12, 2011

But first, we declutter

Hey all! WHEW – I have been working my tail off on our basement over the past week. It’s been exhausting, liberating and a little disturbing all in one. :)

Every single year in January, I start a massive decrapification of our house. I go room by room, putting all the STUFF I’m not sure about in the basement. And then after I’m done with every. single. room…I start on the basement.

That’s usually around August, just in time for the fall decor bins to start creeping out. And then the holiday mess in the basement begins…mixed in with the rest of the stuff from the house.

It’s a recipe for an absolute disaster. I feel like I’m working on cleaning out the basement constantly, all year long…because I am. Gah. What’s that definition of insanity again?

I finally realized a solution this year – first of all, I need to start with the basement. Then I’ll have a spot for the STUFF from the rest of the house. And if I don’t have a spot, I’ll know it’s gotta go. Which brings me to my next revelation – we have way, way, way too much stuff.

I know, I say that a lot, and I get rid of a lot every month…every year. But as I get older, my tolerance for stuff is getting less and less. I just don’t want anything that’s not meaningful, pretty, or useful in our home. If it’s not one of those things to us, it’s OUTTA HERE.

Buh bye. Don’t let the door hit you in the patoot.

So, with all of that in mind, I started with the basement last week. The befores are not pretty. Prepare yourself.

My craft “room” started like this last week (excuse the poor iPhone pics):

It’s like this half of the year, and did I mention I’m SO OVER IT?

I ask you, who can craft in this?:

Holy cats, it’s giving me hives just looking at the pictures. Did I mention I was over. it? This is the very last time I will have to do this – mark my words.

It helps to have thousands of people mark your words. ;)

I’ll give you a little tour of the space first, because I’m just so darn proud of it! First, the wrapping shelves, which were filled before:

I keep a TON of gift bags – so I went through all of them and tossed (or donated) any that weren’t in great shape, or that I just didn’t like. If I wouldn’t have picked it out myself, it was gone.

Why? Because otherwise I knew it would continue to sit there for YEARS (like some of them had). And I was over. it.

I also had so many little random gift boxes – boxes I’ve kept for probably 10 years now. Seriously…OH EM GEE. Will it kill me to get a box from the dollar store if I need one?

Ridiculous. You can’t see in that picture above, but the bottom two shelves are now pretty much empty. It is a glorious thing.

WHOOHOO!!

Next up is my crafty stuff. This area was more reorganizing than purging:

This was a HUGE purge – and it wasn’t easy. I had to pry a few things out of my own hands. I held each piece in my hand and asked myself – have I used it lately? Do I love it? How much would it cost to replace? Do I love it?

(I still think I kept too many candles, but you should have seen what I had before.)

On a quick side note – I’ve used these plastic shelves for years and luuurve em! They hold a ton of weight, it takes about five minutes to put them together, and they’re cheap! I’ve gotten them from both Target and Lowe’s.

I like to install the shelves backwards for decorative stuff, so there’s a little lip at the front edge:

It keeps things from sliding off. :)

I was determined to only use what I had to organize everything, so a lot of the stuff is in random baskets:

Looks like a farmer’s market, eh? ;)

It’s hard for me to part with lamps. They’re not cheap and they’re so easy to redo -- but they take up so much space. I moved them up to the top so they are out of the way:

Next up – the tools (happy sigh):

I’ll tell you right now – I don’t purge tools. :) Tools (usually) aren’t cheap, and if I buy something – I know I’ll use it. It stays.

Back away from the tools peeps!

I keep the major power tools in the garage, but the smaller ones I keep in small bins down here:

I’ve had them organized like this for years and it works great (for me!). I can’t do a big toolbox – the organizer in me needs separation and labels. ;)

The last set of shelves is one I’m pretty excited about. First of all, because it’s half empty:

Secondly, because I decided I want a mini-pantry of sorts down there. Not for food, but for entertaining pieces, party supplies, surplus paper products – all that stuff that I don’t have room for upstairs.

LOVE!! :)

(YES, you can see adult diapers sticking out of one bin, and NO they are not for us. :) We use them as piddle pads for pee cat. Long, long, story.)

Many of you have seen my craft table:

The table is really a large, (nasty), metal folding table. I covered the top in fabric and then hot glued a “skirt” around it (with cheap muslin). Talk about a transformation! It’s so dang cute, I can’t even stand it!!

My life is complete with colorful supplies, a picture of my baby Bub, a coaster for my hot chocolate and my silicon hot pad that I rest the hot glue gun on:

:)

I found a spice organizer at Goodwill forever ago and knew it would be perfect for the glitter:

I hung it up on the pole next to my table and it’s just perfect!

My craft room -- purged, organized and with EMPTY space:

I feel about 150 pounds lighter. :)

I like decluttering and it was still a monster. But I’m SO glad I got this done, and in January? I’m ready to tackle the rest of the house!

Maybe next week. ;)

Let’s take a look at the before and after again, shall we? Cause it’s pretty fantastic!!:

It took four days of working down there every free minute. But it was so worth it – I’m just not doing it ever. again. Did I mention that? ;)

Sooo…what are YOU working on? Spill it! It can’t be as bad as my before. Really.

P.S. Anything I don’t want the Bub to get to it placed up on the higher shelves. He doesn’t get into any of my stuff anyway. Yes, he’s that good. :)

P.P.S. I’m taking some of stuff to Goodwill, some to the consignment shop. That’s my standard after-purge protocol.

I just started purging today after 4 kids Christmas presents thrown everywhere in addition to that we have had 3 birthdays in our house in the last week. It's over the top for me, I'm sick of all the stuff but my hubs just doesn't get it. I started purging today and am going to continue to. I bring a bin to goodwill probably once a month but I'm thinking a heavy duty purge will suite me just fine! It as nice to point this blog post out to my hubby so he didn't think I was going off the deep end. Your space looks beautiful and so organized! Have fun crafting away! :)

It looks fantastic Sarah and I'm so mad that I didn't take pics of our messy basement before we purged and organized. My before looked amazingly similar to yours but my after isn't quite as rocking. I need those white shelves!

That is great inspiration. I've been working on things, and it's slow moving. (I'm 5 weeks away from delivering a baby, and have plenty of incentive but not a whole lot of energy. Thankfully my husband is amazing).

First, you really crack me up! You are so funny! Second, the basement looks so GREAT! You did a really awesome job. Third, um, can I go shopping at the TDC store? Oh my gosh you've got some cool stuff! Maybe you should do a giveaway each month from the things you want to get rid of. I'm sure we'd all LOVE to pay for the shipping even! ;)

Fantastic job! It really looks great, and all that extra space! I just did a similar purge and Oh Em Gee! Why is it SOOO hard to part with craft/decor stuff? Clothes, I'm like, toss, toss, toss...but a roll of ribbon I've had for 10 years and never used....um...well, I might use, one day...if I find the perfect project...UGH!

Now doesn't that feel better?? : )It looks great! I need to do the same, SOON. & Trust me I have a before that is worse... I promise to show it when I start. (we had a flood & everything is stacked on top of eachother) Don't even know where to start...

Way to go!! It all looks great! I need to do some major decrapification of my craft room, but I have yet to find the motivation. Tomorrow will be snow day #4 and your post was just the inspiration that I needed! Thanks!

Doing the same things in every room this year. I even threw out all the boxes we've used for Christmas presents for years. We can buy new ones next year - why was I keeping a full plastic container of boxes I had to tape together? Threw out 5 year old Christmas paper and tons of gift bags. Next I started on the craft area. WOW!!! I've thrown out and donated more things than I've kept. It is all in containers, labeled and ready to go now. This week I've moved on to paperwork. Thanks for keeping me motivated, because next I move on to the girls' rooms with some things they've kept for 15+ years!!!

Looks GREAT! I also want to go shopping in your basement. You've got some great stuff down there! I wish I had a place to store all of my finds.......this house lacks storage in the worst way! Good Job organizing and purging!

Hi Sarah~I too have a room that becomes a catch all spot. I used to call it the "crap" room....LOL! Not anymore though! My hubby and I recently transformed it into a real craft room! I LOVE all the storage space you have in your craft room! Take a look at mine if you'd like. :o)

This is such a great post. It's hard to believe we have the power to make ourselves love all of our spaces if we'll just put the work into it. I always think about all that needs to be done but that never helps. There is nothing like the feel of just gettin'er done!! :) Fantastic job!!

EXCELLENT! I LOVE the spice rack for glitter- how clever! I may need to "borrow" that idea.

Well I've also been working on my craft room but mine is WAY smaller than yours. I've also worked on the playroom and our third story (attic turned into bedrooms... okay so really it was turned into storage, ha ha!).

I, for one, think it looks FANTASTIC! And your table is the 'plan' in my head for after payday! We switched out tables for my craft room w/ the 'nasty' metal folding one (bigger!) and I was already planning on doing some fabric around the bottom (& can hide extra storage underneath!). I've been trying to figure out what to do on top other than plexiglass. I may do fabric and THEN plexiglass - easy to clean b/c I'm super messy w/ paint & glue & glitter ;) You guys have plans to finish your basement?

Woohoo!! I took several big trash bags of toys and clothes and a big box to Salvation Army today. Still have another box to go, and have to wrap a bunch of mugs also. T also removed a hideous chair from the girls' room, and I actually love the empty space left in its wake. ;)

This looks so great. All of these organizing and purging posts lately have me going nuts. I just had our third baby three weeks ago and now have three children under three and a half. I want so bad to take on all of these projects and wish that I actually could do it. My husband works full time and has a to-do list of his own. I am trying to just keep things together that have to be for now, but can't wait to take on all of these projects once the baby gets a little older and I am able to.Your craft area is so nice... makes me want to pull up to that table and create. :)www.lesleyslovinglyliftedlife.wordpress.com

Your basement looks fantastic. I decluttered around here too. The business that I own is a children's party entertainment business . Therefore, I have about 10 Santa Claus outfits, 6 bunny suits with heads (mascot type), 1 'care' bear suit with head and a Minnie Mouse mascot suit with head. You have no idea how hard it is to store those heads! Can't go in the attic cuz down here in the south they would melt. So there are all in the garage. At least they are each in a white trash bags. 16 pair of eyes staring at your comings and goings can give ya the willies! They drive me a bit crazy.

I love it! My post from yesterday was about the basement. We moved into this house 9 months ago and just trashed the basement while getting the rest of the house put together. With 3 boys ages 3-8, I'm not moving very fast on the basement, but it WILL get done!!

Great job, I think everyone has trouble areas, and I REALLY think every crafter has at least one or two areas that are always messy, mine seems to be my desk, I seem to clean it up 5 times a day and it never lasts 5 minutes.

Looks so good now! I'm going to start next week after my in-laws will leave to go back home (after 2 months with us!!). I have so much to clean up and organize!! I really like your craft table/station :)

I love the "decrapification" there is no better word for it! :) My craft room looks a lot like your before picture! Thanks for the motivation! It looks great and probably feels incredible and creative now!~Danylle

Sarah your *stuff* made me dizzy just seeing the pictures. I have a serious clutter phobia. I'm not kidding. If it's not used it's out of our house in a split second. You did a great job! I can't wait to see your basement all finished with drywall and painted. That will be an amazing and huge family space for you all.

Wow! Great job! It looks so nice. I have to do that very thing in our garage to get it set up as my crafting workshop. And our two storage units that we have from our move have to be purged as well. I can't wait until it looks as amazing as your space!

You are so lucky to be done with your craft room!! Good for you! :)I feel like my organization goals are going to take me all year at the rate I'm going... like 5 minutes a day. ;) Going to have to make some time for it, I too, am sick of too much crap! :) xoxo

Love a good purge and organization party!! Great job Sarah! You had me laughing out loud on piddle diapers and pee cat...about a year ago we became proud owners of Felicity the really cute kitten I shared in pictures a couple of times...yeah, not so cute after she went into heat and left her girly scent here and there. Well I still am not sure if it is a blessing or a sad thing...Halloween night when the daughter and I went outside to take pictures of the pumpkins the kids carved...Miss Felicity decided to chase a leaf out the door into the night...only, we had no idea she had left the house....long story short, we looked and looked for her, either someone adopted her into their home, or I don't want to think of what might have happened.:(

All I do know, the carpet guys are coming to measure tomorrow...I'm getting some new carpet and no pee kitty is coming in to ruin it! ;)

Congrats girl! I know how great it feels to do a total re-do of a space and I'm sure you're feeling it now. We are tackling our garage (1st) and then office (2nd, so we have room to store things in the garage) on the 17th and I am over-the-moon excited to do it! However, now I am feeling house envy over your basement. Wish we had one!

I love organization and decluttering too! However I'm not nearly on top of things as you are. What I REALLY wish though, is that I lived near you and could go through what you get rid of or visit your Goodwill after you've been there - I know I would find some awesome stuff!!

Good Morning...I have been reading your blog faithfully every morning for months. I love it!!! So... just wanted to let you know I finally became a follower. Thank You for sharing all of your fabulous ideas!!! XoXo

I need to go through our attic storage and purge, Sarah. Best time to do it is in the winter, otherwise it is just too hot up there in the Summer. Everything looks so neat and organized on your shelves!

Hey, how did you get in my basement, lol! It looks a lot like my place, it's eerie. The before, that is. I'm dreaming of making it look like the after. Mine is more for storage, though, I have an actual craft area. But I too have lamps I want to refinish and wrapping paper, gift bags, etc.

We are moving soon, so I won't have a choice but to go through everything.

I like to purge as I go during the year, and it works for me. Our closets are just so small and we have no basement. Usually it happens right after Christmas and right before summer and around back to school time. But really, I do it all the time...

WOW! What a transformation! I think I sighed relief for you! :-) I'm seriously need to work on my my office/craft space. I have too much stuff that I just don't want to get rid of b/c I think I'll need it in the future. Mainly paper things like my card making supplies or scrapbooking supplies which can take up a LOT of space! Enjoy your "new" basement! :-D

We don't have a basement :(, and we've rearranged a lot of our house lately so we have one room that is a sewing room/catch all right now. I need to get going through it. Right now though, I'm working on my photo organizing and framing as you can see on my blog.

Woo hoo! Go you! This excites me! haha! Actually, if you can believe it...my basement is WORSE than this. I can hardly walk down there. There's a path to the washer and dryer and the rest of the floor is covered with boxes and random stuff. I could so use the shelves that you have. That would solve most of my problem. I also need to get rid of a lot of stuff like you did. We will most likely be moving soon so when we do, I'm definitely buying some of those shelves.

Awesome job! Everything looks great. It's that purging part that I have a problem with. Most of my stuff is table setting related. And... it does seem that I use stuff I've had, so purging doesn't seem to be the answer there - but there's always room for reorganization. Thanks for the inspiration.

Organizing seems to be the seasonal thing to do in January. I host a weekly meme called Seasonal Sundays. Your post would be right on target. Hope you'll come and join me.

Looks great and I know how you feel. I've got the organizing and redecorating bug so bad I should be 9 months pregnant! Just finished reorganizing and purging the kitchen now it's time for my craft room. It looks like a bomb went off in it since Christmas. Thanks for all the inspiration. Just added your link to my blog yesterday!

That looks awesome! And I love your craft table. I wish I had more space in my basement. Our unfinshed part we use for storage is tiny! But I guess that helps me avoid clutter. If there is too much stuff in there, we can't even get into the room!

We brought only what was necessary, and the things that I don't give to an orphanage or other needy individual, I simply put in a tub on the balcony to move back with us and sell when we get home. But I am trying to get my photo albums done! I finished one this a.m. and was able to order two- a little dent in the catch-up project!

Wow... you're human! Haha, for a minute there I was starting to think you didn't have a basement like mine and all was sparkly and creative in your home! Thanks for the inspiration... my craft room is stating to resemble this and I'm newly geared to start in on it after reading this!

That's AWESOME! Decrapification is my new favorite word!! I think I need to go through my whole house and do that. (To make room for more stuff, of course.) :)

BTW, I have just recently found your blog and I love it. I am an Indiana girl, too, though I haven't lived there in many years. (Hubby is in the Air Force.) It's great to read about it and see your pictures though.

wow great job! that was no small project! I wish I had a proper basement - we have a crawl space so I'm like a hunchback down there trying to find anything. I try to keep things grouped together but then my guy gets down there searching for something and it's like a tornado has swept through. I need to get him to read your post!! :)

Great Job Sarah! My garage looks a lot like this. Maybe worse. Do you clean this space yourself? I would assume so since it is your stuff and the poor hubster would just be in the way. I think that's what I need to do. clean the garage myself. It's my stuff and my husband is always in the way asking me what I'm doing with this or that. I usually throw away stuff that I really wanted....

WOW, an impressive transformation! I can only imagine how much hard work it took. Your craft table and setup is totally adorable. I did some craft organizing this January as well! It took me two days and it's only a trunk full of crafts/paper goods! It feels so nice to take stock in what you already have. I didn't realize how much I had been holding onto and promised my husband that I would buy no more new supplies this year until I have successfully made a (LARGE) dent in what I already own (I use most of it to make cards). Thanks for the inspiring post!

I spent all. day. Monday organizing our office and my craft room. We just moved a week before Christmas (we were living in Ohio for hubby's job, but still had our house in NC that we just moved back into... anyway, confusing...) so I had boxes and CRAP everywhere in those two rooms which served as dumping grounds. I NEED one of those white plastic shelves you have for all my decorative stuff. Right now I have it all up on the shelf in the office closet, but I can't reach it without a stepstool or see what I have so needless to say it isn't working. Hmm, I'm thinking a trip to Lowe's is in order for today! P.S. LUUURVE YOUR BLOG!

I'm so impressed! You did a great job in the basement. And you are right, it's the perfect place to start because without making room, you have no where to store things from the main living areas.

I just did a post about how to solve major organizational problems when I helped a friend with a room makeover. One of the main keys is to make room for the solution. And if you can't, you are still in trouble.

It's so fun getting decluttered isn't it? I've been having a blast all over the house this week. It must be an after Christmas reaction-Lol!

Donna @ Comin' Home

PS. I had to delete my previous comment due to major errors-spelling and otherwise. Where was my head??!! I need a cuppa..right now. Tee-hee!

Nice job!As a newlywed, were merging lives and homes. So, I'm in the process of purging tons of much loved stuff from my "country kitchen" into our new "diner kitchen" - sneaking back as much as I can keep...

But, lots will be going to my Etsy shop. And, probably lots of giveaways in store for my blog.

The only downside of those 2 options - having to keep the stuff around until it's 1) sold or 2) given away.

Wow, that looks great! I need to be doing the same thing, especially since this is snow day #4! Although pj's and hot chocolate has been kind of nice too :) Thank you for posting, it does make me want to be productive!

I think I've got you beat...we started on our not all that large pile of boxes in the garage we haven't looked at since our move 2 1/2 years ago, and in the process ripped out an old dog box the previous owners had built into the gargage (complete with uneven hole just cut through the siding with no dog door)...and found a dead bird in it. Sadly, this is not the first, nor the second dead animal we have found while doing home improvements...the previous owners were nasty and didn't know a lot about pet burials.

On the bright side, we now have 4 more feet of room in our garage and only about 10 boxes left, all stuff we know we want, we just have to find a great place for it.

THAT is incredible! You did such awesome work! It looks so much brighter and more cheerful now!

We have shelves like yours in our garage but they've quickly become overfull. DH's next project for when the ground thaws is to purchase a shed and move all the gardening & lawn stuff out there, in order to fit more shelves along the wall where those things are currently kept.

Your idea for storing party goods is genius! - I'm running out of room in my kitchen pantry and have started throwing perfectly good products away!

I am working on photo albums...ugh. Get the big picture: my kids are 31 and 26. I was really good until the second child was born and then I must have lost consciousness...lol...I first had to separate the photos into homes (we have had 3)...then I tried birthday cake candles (for the kids ages)...it is fun looking back over all the old photos, but I feel like I am working in a bottomless pit! Well, at least when I am finished I will have something to thumb through in my old age!!!

i could have written this! except i do this every year!! blah! but now you've inspired me to get to organizing 'the pit' as i call it. maybe i'll post it on my blog and have others help keep me accountable ;) enjoy~it looks amazing...you should be very proud of yourself!

"We women have a lot to learn about simplifying our lives. We have to decide what is important and then move along at a pace that is comfortable for us. We have to develop the maturity to stop trying to prove something. We have to learn to be content with what we are.As you create a home, don’t get distracted with a lot of things that have no meaning for you or your family. Don’t dwell on your failures, but think about your successes. Have joy in your home. Have joy in your children. Have joy in your husband. Be grateful for the journey." ~Marjorie P. Hinckley

Thanks for the diagnosis. So the shakes I'm getting looking at our home office are symptoms of much needed decrapification. I've been circling the office desk like a vulture lately but haven't had time to deal with it. Getting rid of clutter is such a nice feeling!!

You see, I just let you write my posts. Going through the same thing, as we've discussed. But this is what I wanted to write: Have too much crap. I bought this crap, yet I now hate the crap. Must get rid of crap. Some crap can go, other crap I can't bear to part with. Plan to sell unwanted crap at garage sale in June. That's a long time to store said crap. However, last year's crap sale made me $625. Will endure visible boxes of crap in order to make money to sell ALL THIS CRAP.

Wow! You go girl! You are going to love every minute in your organized space! All hell breaks loose in our basement in October and stays that way until January. We are in the same boat here -- decluttering and organizing!

I love the idea of keeping your decorative things out on a shelf. Mine are kept in plastic totes and out of sight out of mind... but I wonder, do you have to dust the items you're not using plus the ones you have on display throughout your home? =)

Wow! You really got it knocked out in there! I don't have a basement, so our garage turns into the "dumping ground" at our house if we allow it to! I try to have a few yard sales a year, and then take everything that is left after the sale, to Goodwill. If I wait too long between sales, I run out of places to stash the stuff that I want to sell. My "stuff" goal is to someday, get to the point where it takes a year...or more before I have enough junk for another sale! As long as I have 3 kids under our roof, I don't think it's gonna happen though! :)

Nice job! What a refreshing way to begin the new year. Oh, and I was just wondering: Are you over it? :)BTW, making a skirt for my craft table has been on my list for a long time. I just need to DO IT. Yours looks great. I might try something similar.

You did a super job. What a big difference. You should be so proud of yourself. I'm at that age where I don't want clutter anymore. I need to really get started now and start pitching things I know I won't use anymore.

I love your blog and I get so many great ideas from you but, 'decrapification' is my fave. Try living in the same place for 25 years and you will be amazed what is still hanging around. But, you inspire me to greatness and I'm determined that this is the year to unload some serious 'stuff.' Also, I'm dying to know what the 'cat pee' story is ... having two useless cats of my own.

So inspiring to read this! Mine is currently in a total state of disaster that makes your before look organized. :-) I am going to gear up and make this a priority and just suck it up and do it. When I get overwhelmed, I will just keep reading your post to keep me motivated. Thanks!!

There is nothing like a move to force a person to declutter. We just moved last week-end from our home of 16 years. We are down-sizing from a 4000 sq ft house in the burbs to a 27 sq ft townhouse in town. I had a garage sale (my first) on New Year's Eve (during the day) and made $900 on just stuff I had planned to take to Goodwill. Wow!

Just for the record, I love the word you used. Decrapification. I love it so much I even thought about stenciling in my crafting area! Maybe not but I should write it down for inspiration to do the same! :) Thanks for such a great post!!!

I LOVE it! Looks amazing. I also am working in my basement! We have a basement full of crap and need to get it ready for making a room down there for my daughter...she soooo needs her own room! So that's my project!

I have been reading your blog for only a few months and look forward to all new posts. Have also been looking into Shalee with your recommendations. I am seriously considering changing my current green cleaning product...

Oh gosh! First I LOVE your site, second, my OCD kicked in when I saw I could get cleaning supplies! PS, I went to the NKOTB concert in my town in 09 also 7 months pregnant and we had seats in the back, but they ran past us during a song and we got to touch them as they ran by. My sis-in-law said she was never going to wash her hand again! :)

Wow, that is a huge purge! Good Job! I just finished up my 'after' posts for a few projects I tackled using some of our Christmas money. We hung our TV, installed an organization system in the garage, and I put up some Elfa drawers in my closet. So glad it's finished:)

Man I remember looking at the photos when you redid that room! I can't believe how cluttered it got! haha actually I can because my house goes from organized to a disaster zone in a couple hours! I LOVED the idea of the spice rack for your glitter! How stinking cute! :)

I used to have a "pee cat" too. Unfortunately, he inspired all the other cats to follow his example. We know this now because after he passed they all started using the litter box again.

I was able to remove the odor from our basement carpet. Since I have so many cats and it had been going on so long, my project was a huge undertaking, but you might try my recipe next time your pee cat strikes before you pitch anything. You might as well, since you'll be tossing whatever it is if it doesn't work anyway...